wrestlepediafandomcom-20200214-history
Curt Hennig
Curtis Michael "Curt" Hennig (March 28, 1958 – February 10, 2003) was an American professional wrestler, manager, and color commentator who performed under his real name for the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). In the WWF, he found his greatest success as Mr. Perfect, a nickname introduced in his second run with the company which gradually became his official ring name. Hennig used the same ring name in his third and final run. However, his real name was widely acknowledged. He is the son of wrestler Larry Hennig, and father to current WWE (formerly the WWF) wrestler Joe "Curtis Axel" Hennig. Hennig is a four-time world champion, having held the AWA World Heavyweight Championship once for 373 days (the seventh-longest reign in history), the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship once, and the i-Generation World Heavyweight Championship twice. A two-time WWF Intercontinental Champion, Hennig has been named by WWE as one of the top five Intercontinental Champions of all time and a man who brought a new level of credibility to the title; he was the longest-reigning champion of the 1990s. In addition to winning multiple championships in WCW during the late 1990s, he was a member of the New World Order and leader of stable and country music group, The West Texas Rednecks, who recorded the popular tongue-in-cheek song, "Rap is Crap". Hennig returned to the WWF for a brief period in 2002, being one of the last three men remaining at the Royal Rumble. He later challenged for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in TNA, prior to his death on February 10, 2003. Both WWE and WCW have recognized Hennig as one of the all-time great pro wrestlers, with the former crediting him for raising the accepted standard of technical wrestling. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007 by former Major League Baseball third baseman, and longtime friend, Wade Boggs. Former WWF rival Hulk Hogan remarked: "Everybody would check their egos at the door when they came to a building that Curt Hennig was in, because you couldn't out-work him, you couldn't outshine him and you couldn't out-perform him. He was the best of the best." On February 10, 2003, Hennig was found dead in a Florida hotel room. He was 44 years old. The Hillsborough County Medical Examiner's Office declared acute cocaine intoxication to be the cause of his death.29 His father said that steroids and painkillers also contributed to his death. Hennig was survived by his parents, Larry and Irene, two brothers, Randy and Jesse, and two sisters, Sandra and Susan, wife Leonice, two sons Joe and Hank and two daughters Amy and Kaite. Two of his children, Joe and Amy, are professional wrestlers. * American Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Championship * American Wrestling Association World Tag Team Championship * Future of Wrestling Heavyweight Championship * i-Generation Superstars of Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship * Main Event Championship Wrestling Heavyweight Championship * NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship * NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship * WCW United States Heavyweight Championship * WCW World Tag Team Championship * World Wrestling Council Universal Heavyweight Championship * WWE Intercontinental Championship See Also WCW Alumni, WWE Alumni